This Great National Object

Building the Nineteenth-Century Welland Canals

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How "Mr. Merritt's Ditch" became a link in the chain of inland waterways between the Atlantic Ocean and North America's heartland.

In This Great National Object, Roberta Styran and Robert Taylor - the unparalleled experts on the subject - recount the story of the canals, with particular emphasis on the experiences of the engineers, contractors, and labourers who built the inland waterways between 1824 and 1889.

Making extensive use of the National Archives and the Archives of Ontario, Styran and Taylor unveil previously unpublished information about the construction of the canals, including technical plans and drawings from a wide variety of sources. They illustrate the technical and management intricacies of building a navigational trade and commerce lifeline while also revealing the vivid characters - from businessman William Hamilton Merritt to engineer John Page - who inspired the project and drove it to completion.

The history of the Welland Canals is a gripping tale of epic proportions. Given the ongoing importance of the Great Lakes in the North American economy, interest in the St. Lawrence Seaway - of which the Welland is "the Great Swivel Link" - and the relevance of labour history, This Great National Object will be of interest to enthusiasts and historians alike.

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“The history of the Welland Canals is of epic proportions, lending itself to the telling of a gripping story, and the authors are the unparalleled experts on the subject. Their intricate reconstruction of the building of the first three canals in the nineteenth century is fascinating and serves as a thorough example of canal technology and its sociopolitical attachments.” J. David Wood, York University

Roberta M. Styran, retired assistant professor of history at Brock University and co-author of The Great Swivel Link: Canada's Welland Canal, is the 2009 recipient of the Canadian Society for Civil Engineering's W. Gordon Plewes Award.Robert R. Taylor is professor emeritus of history at Brock University and the author of several books on architecture, local history, and, with Roberta Styran, the Welland Canals.